Purina Beneful

Purina Beneful has enjoyed quite the reputation in pet food circles among those who may not really know what’s in pet foods. You can ask many people what food they feed their dog, and the response is often “Beneful”. It’s one of the “leading” pet foods in America today.

But is it any good? Well, no. Actually it’s downright terrible.

I originally reviewed this food back in 2007, and on an ingredients standpoint alone pointed out how awful it was. This was before the reams of consumer complaints and heartbreaking stories of sick and dying dogs that have persisted over the years. It’s always hard to substantiate such a claim as pets can die for many reasons (which always seems to be Purina’s answer), but if you think logically – a pet’s diet is fundamental to their health.

Pet Food Ratings is an ingredients and analysis review website, so that’s what this review is focussed on. Beneful have labelled the recently filed class action lawsuit as baseless, but I’m pretty sure I can offer a base. Let’s take a look:

The main ingredient is corn, an awful ingredient to make up the foundation of a dog food. A few studies in recent years have shown, in very few cases, corn can be a decent protein source if processed to a very high standard (at cost). Corn in pet food is more often used as a very cheap non-nutritious filler, which, with typical processing is difficult for our dogs to digest. It makes no sense to include corn in a pet food where a decent meat ingredient is a far better inclusion, and that’s fact. Beneful is largely made from corn for one reason alone, and that’s because cheap ingredients ensure significant profit margins. Good for them, not for your dog.

Beneful claims lawsuit is “baseless” ~ 02/26/2015

The protein level in Beneful Original is 21%. This is moderately low for a dog food, and you can be assured the corn is the main contribution to this, not meat protein which is what our dogs need.

So what’s the second ingredient? Ah, we find meat – that’s good. But it’s not, it’s by-products, the lowest quality parts of the animal (heads, beaks, feet, etc). It’s not legal to sell by-products for human consumption, and it’s not healthy for our pets. Look up “4D rendered meat” in Google, and make sure you have a strong stomach. In any case, once this meat is cooked it will lose most of it’s weight, which means the third ingredient will likely become more prominent…

…and the third ingredient is, oh dear, more corn. Corn gluten meal is a telltale sign of a cheap dog food. It’s used to artificially inflate protein levels where meat should really be used, it lacks essential amino acids (lysine, tryptophan), it’s highly allergenic, and can cause gastrointestinal issues. So why’s it used? It’s cheap.

Then we find wheat flour. Wheat is one of the cheapest, most allergenic grains that can be used to “fill” a pet food. It has no nutritional value. Wheat flour is even worse, and commonly known in the industry as “floor sweepings”. We find rice flour too… oh, and speaking of allergens, soy is another one, and guess what, we find that as well. Hat trick!

Beef is completely insignificant as the 7th ingredient, but this justifies having “With Beef” on the front of the packet.

It really doesn’t sound appealing does it? There’s more:

Propylene Glycol – This is what antifreeze is made of! It’s banned by the FDA in cat food! It’s used here as a preservative, but it’s definitely not something you want to be feeding your dog day in day out, which is what most dog owners do. Dicalcium phosphate can become toxic. Calcium propionate is a potentially carcinogenic chemical. These are warning signs to me, are they warning signs to you?

Look how high sugar is on the ingredient list. Sugar shouldn’t even be in a pet food. Salt shouldn’t be included either. Your dog doesn’t need the extra sodium (or sugar). They’re used to improve flavor which is otherwise lacking.

So if you put it all together it’s a disaster. Buy a better food, save your money on vets bills, and save the heartbreak of having a sick pet.

If you look on the Beneful website there are many claims about how good their food is. These claims, dear consumers, are baseless.

Where to buy?

* PriceGrabber search all the main retailers for the best prices on cat and dog food.

If you are SO poverty stricken that you can only afford to pay $1.30 for your dry dog food then consider two alternatives. First, if you have a Costco nearby, then buy their own brand Kirkland Signature Nature’s Domain Grain Free Turkey Meal and Sweet Potato Dry Dog Food at $36 for 30 lbs. If you have a Tractor Supply nearby get them 4Health Grain Free Dog Food. 30lbs for $36.99. Both are free of the real nasties: CORN, BY-PRODUCTS, WHEAT, SOY, MEAT AND BONEMEAL, ANIMAL FAT, ANIMAL DIGEST, PROPYLENE GLYCOL, BHT/BHA, SUGAR, ARTIFICIAL COLORS The cat food although not 100% grain free, contains none of the bad stuff!

I am a veterinarian and every dog I’ve ever treated that is fed this food has health issues or is failing to thrive In my opinion this is the WORST food on the market, yet people see the vegetables on the bag and think it’s healthy. I can’t believe this food is still around. Zero stars.

Then it’s likely something that was in the Iams. You don’t feed a child only Big Macs because they’re allergic to peanuts. It might be a good idea to figure out what was the real culprit rather than put the animal at further risk of other problems.

my dog passed away this morning from Purina Dog Food they need to be shut down I have seen over 3,000 complaints over Purina killing their animals their loved ones where the baby got into that dog food think about it that way if our animals not important what about our kids they need to fix the problem so I can tell you right now I am filing a lawsuit I’m already having the chow testedI don’t want money money is not going to bring back my dog I just don’t want other dogs suffer the same fate minded mind suffered puking up blood tell he finely passed way

I have been giving my chihuahua beneful for years and I’m so upset after reading this article. I feel terrible and guilty because I too was sold by the name alone. Now my dog has congestive heart failure and I’m wondering if its not because of this dog food. It’s always about the profit and Nothing about the animals.

This brand makes me so angry. The company zip work for sells this brand as well as others but constantly has it on sale. The cheap, ignorant folks jump all over it. I can’t imagine that they haven’t seen the news stories about this food. What makes it even worse is knowing that most of them are buying it because it’s on sale. I just don’t get why they even have a dog. I hear “it’s the only food my dog will eat” all the time but it’s just an excuse to make themselves feel better for not being a good pet parent. Is it really that difficult to follow the directions on the side of the bag on how to change out food? There are a lot of brands on the market that are good food to change out to. Even the comment above about their dog not having seizures anymore is a prime example of lazy and irresponsible pet owners. Why would you not want to find out what the actual problem is? These are living creatures.